Digital Disciple
Real Christianity in a Virtual World
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
This time in our society is unlike any other. People communicate daily without ever having to speak face to face, news breaks around the world in a matter of seconds, and favorite TV shows can be viewed at our convenience. We are, simultaneously, a people of connection and isolation. As Christians, how do we view our faith and personal ministry in this culture?Adam Thomas invites you to explore this question using his unique, personal, and often humorous insight. Thomas notes, "" The Internet] has added a new dimension to our lives; we are physical, emotional, spiritual, and now virtual people. But I believe that God continues to move through every facet of our existence, and that makes us new kinds of followers. We are digital disciples.""""I gain renewed hope for the future by looking at a new generation of emerging Christian leaders like Adam Thomas.""Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christianity""Digital Disciple is a new kind of pastor's sermon to a new kind of flock. Go ahead and tweet your friends: GOT 2 READ THIS."" Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, author, speaker and new monastic""Bright, innovative, perceptive, eloquent, and imaginative -- Adam Thomas is all that and more, as you will see in the pages of his dynamic book."" James W. Moore, author of How God Takes Our Little & Makes it Much
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
How do we maintain the Body of Christ when the physical bodies we see and touch in church expand to include the virtual bodies we inhabit online? What place does prayer have in our instantaneous, technology-driven world? In this rambling, bloglike exploration of the relationship between technology especially social networking tools like Facebook and spirituality, Thomas, a millennial-generation Episcopal priest, attempts to answer these and other questions, concluding with the familiar observation that the tech world fosters both connection and isolation. Positively, meeting on blogs, forums, and feeds across virtual space connects the faithful, creating a new kind of house church where the followers of Jesus gather in the name of Christ to celebrate their communion as Christians. Yet Thomas also suggests a daily "Tech Sabbath," a few hours of respite from the demands of always being connected, so that individuals can reflect quietly on their Christian faith through Scripture readings or journal writing. While Thomas's message isn't new or revealing, it does encourage Christians to view technological worlds as means of encountering the presence of God in the nonvirtual world.
